Europe’s role in the next wave of tokenisation

Welcome to our institutional newsletter, Crypto Long & Short. This week:

• Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad on how the EU’s regulatory clarity could allow tokenised markets to scale
• Andy Baehr tells BNB to “suit up”
• Top headlines institutions should pay attention to by Francisco Rodrigues
• “Bitcoin’s drawdowns compress as markets mature” in Chart of the Week

-Alexandra Levis

Expert Insights

Europe’s role in the next wave of tokenisation

– By Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad, chief executive officer, Bitpanda

The tokenisation of real-world assets (RWAs) has moved from buzzword to business case. It has become the bedrock of institutional blockchain adoption. In the first half of 2025 alone, the value of tokenised RWAs surged by 260%, reaching $23 billion in on-chain value. Over the past several years, the sector has experienced rapid and sustained growth, enough to shift tokenisation from an experimental concept to a core pillar of digital-asset infrastructure. This signals a structural shift in how financial markets are built and ultimately expanded.

Tokenisation is emerging as the foundation of institutional blockchain adoption with BlackRock, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs having publicly explored or deployed related initiatives and major institutions validating its potential. Despite this momentum, growth remains constrained. Most assets are still embedded in permissioned systems, segmented by regulatory uncertainty and limited interoperability. Scalable public-network infrastructure remains underdeveloped, slowing the path from institutional pilots to mass-market participation. In short, tokenisation works, but the market rails to support global adoption are still being built.

What’s missing? Regulation, as an enabler. Institutions need clarity before committing to balance sheets and building long-term strategies. Retail investors need transparent rules that protect them without shutting them out. Markets need standards they can trust. Without these elements, liquidity stays shallow, systems stay siloed and innovation struggles to move beyond early adopters.

Europe has undoubtedly emerged as an early leader in this area. With MiCA now in force and the DLT Pilot Regime enabling structured digital-securities experimentation, the region has moved beyond fragmented sandboxes. The European market is the first to implement a unified, continent-wide regulatory framework for tokenised assets. Instead of treating compliance as an obstacle, the region has elevated regulatory clarity into a competitive advantage. It provides the legal, operational and technical certainty that institutions require to innovate with confidence and at scale.

The continent’s regulatory-first approach is already generating tangible momentum. Under MiCA and the EU’s DLT Pilot Regime, banks have begun issuing tokenised bonds on regulated infrastructure, with European issuance exceeding €1.5 billion in 2024 alone. Asset managers are testing on-chain fund structures designed for retail distribution, while fintechs are integrating digital-asset rails directly into licensed platforms. Together, these developments mark a shift from pilot programmes to live deployment, reducing one of the industry’s longest-standing bottlenecks: the ability to build compliant infrastructure from day one.

A new phase: interoperability and market structure

The next frontier of tokenisation will hinge on interoperability and shared standards, areas where Europe’s regulatory clarity could again set the pace. As more institutions bring tokenised products to market, fragmented liquidity pools and proprietary frameworks risk recreating the silos of traditional finance in digital form.

While traditional finance has spent years optimising for speed, the next wave of tokenisation will be shaped by trust in who builds and governs the infrastructure, as well as whether both institutions and retail participants can rely on it. Europe’s clarity around rules and market structure gives it a credible opportunity to define global standards rather than simply follow them.

The EU can reinforce this position by encouraging cross-chain interoperability and common disclosure standards. Establishing shared rules early would allow tokenised markets to scale without repeating the fragmentation that slowed earlier financial innovations.

Headlines of the Week

– By Francisco Rodrigues

President Donald Trump’s surprise nomination of Kevin Warsh to lead the Fed introduced new variables that shook the markets. The precious metals rally saw a violent selloff, while cryptocurrency prices endured a major correction, with major players nevertheless moving to capture value.

Vibe Check

Suit up, BNB

– By Andy Baehr, head of product and research, CoinDesk Indices

Last week’s CoinDesk 20 (CD20) reconstitution brought BNB into the index for the first time. This wasn’t a question of size — BNB has long been one of the largest digital assets by market cap. It was a matter of meeting the liquidity and other requirements that govern CD20 inclusion. For the first time, BNB cleared those hurdles.

The result? One of the largest composition changes since the index launched in January 2024. BNB enters the CD20 with a weight exceeding 15%, making it an immediate heavyweight in the lineup.

From a portfolio construction perspective, this is a meaningful shift. BNB has historically exhibited lower volatility than the broader CD20, which could reduce the index’s overall risk profile. Its correlation with other index constituents has been moderate rather than lockstep (until recently, at least), adding a diversification benefit. The potential outcome: a lower-risk, more diversified index.

Of course, adding a big name means pushing other constituents down the weight ladder, even with the capping mechanisms CD20 employs. The pie charts tell that story clearly — existing holdings get compressed to make room for the new arrival.

As crypto enters what we’ve been calling its “sophomore year” of institutional maturity, the CoinDesk 20 is beginning its own third year of existence. The index evolves alongside the market it’s meant to capture.

Sunday scaries (real or imagined?)

This past weekend felt rough. Bitcoin traded below $75K, billions in liquidations got clocked, and if you’re in crypto, you were probably watching it happen in real time. Whether you count 24/7 market access as a blessing or a curse, it’s simply a fact of life now.

After a few weekends like this one, it starts to feel like a pattern — like crypto absorbs the world’s anxieties while traditional markets sleep. So, we decided to test that feeling against the data.

The scatter plot shows daily returns for the CoinDesk 20, with weekend moves highlighted separately. Yes, there are a few instances of outsized downside moves on Saturdays and Sundays. But there are plenty of quiet weekends too — and plenty of weekday chaos that doesn’t fit the narrative.

It may be memory inflation. Painful weekends stick in our minds more than calm ones. The drama of watching markets move when others aren’t paying attention amplifies the psychological weight. The data suggests that Sunday scaries might be more perception than pattern.

Still, after a weekend like this past one, the feeling is real even if the statistical significance isn’t. We keep on indexin’ through it all — tracking what’s happening, measuring what matters and trying to separate signal from sentiment.

Chart of the Week

Bitcoin’s drawdowns compress as markets mature

Bitcoin’s peak-to-trough drawdowns have steadily compressed over time, moving from -84% in the first epoch (post-1st halving) to a current cycle maximum of -38% as of early 2026. This persistent reduction in “peak pain” suggests a structural shift toward market maturity, as institutional capital and spot ETFs establish a more stable price floor compared to the retail-driven 80%+ crashes of previous eras. Historically, bitcoin has taken approximately 2 to 3 years (roughly 700 to 1,000 days) to fully recover from major cycle bottoms to new highs, though recovery speed has recently increased, with Epoch 3 reclaiming its peak in only 469 days.

Listen. Read. Watch. Engage.

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